Alistair Overeem vs. James Thompson official for Sunday's DREAM.12 event

http://mmajunkie.comA heavyweight tilt between Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (30-11) and former EliteXC and Cage Rage fighter James Thompson (14-10) is now official for Sunday’s DREAM.12 event.

The bout completes the nine-night lineup for DREAM.12, which takes place at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan, and airs live in North America on HDNet.

Overeem was a late addition to the event, which is DREAM’s first to use a cage rather than the traditional ring. (The organization will return to the ring for future events, and company officials have hinted the cage may make an annual appearance.)

Thompson was an even later addition to the card, possibly due to visa issues. The British fighter, who is 0-4 since July 2007 and just 2-8 over the past three and a half years, was a second choice after the organization was unable to secure former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez (37-11), who’s considering a drop to light heavyweight.

Overeem, meanwhile, is 5-0 (with one no-contest) over the past two years and has emerged as one of the most sought-after heavyweight fighters outside the UFC. However, he hasn’t defended his Strikeforce belt in two years. (Company CEO Scott Coker recently said he expects Overeem to make his first title defense in early 2010.)

The Latest

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?